iFrames reduce Publisher revenue

The iFrame is usually the culprit for restricted Publisher earnings

For the vast majority of Gourmet Ads Publishers, the most ideal setup for our JavaScript ad tags is for them to be hard coded directly onto your website. This method not only provides the fastest load times, but ultimately provides the best revenue option as well. We’ve seen it time and time again, when a Publisher changes their ad tags from being served in iFrames to on-page JavaScript, the revenue goes up.

There are two main reasons why ad tags in an iFrame are problematic for Publishers:

Loss of revenue with directly-booked campaignsDirectly-booked rich media campaigns including creative that expands beyond the normal barriers of the ad unit cannot be run in an iFrame. So, when we traffic these campaigns, advertisers insist that we not run them on sites using iFrames. As a result, these are automatically removed from the campaign even before it begins. We use placement-monitoring technology that provides us a list every day of sites running iFrames.

Loss of revenue with programmatic campaignsAs automated media buying increases, advertisers are deploying technology (like ad verification services) to identify the URL they are going to buy within milliseconds of purchasing the impression. If the advertiser can’t identify the URL or page of the website because the Publisher has loaded the ad within an iFrame, then the advertiser automatically passes on the impression and revenue is lost. Not an ideal solution when you are trying to maximize revenue.

Don’t think you’re running iFrames? You may not have done it intentionally. Sometimes ad servers render their tags on the page within iFrames, thus squeezing our ad tags into an iFrame. The same can occur when our ad tags are used for redirect rags, the redirect can sometimes render them into iFrame.

On occasions, some Publishers will purposely implement iFrames to help reduce the load time of the ad server. A more effective fix would be to speak to your web developer or front-end CSS developer who can arrange the code so that the ads are the last thing to load on the page.

If you’re curious or think your site might be running iFrames, contact us and we’ll investigate your site. Our remedy is usually to hard code the tags directly to the site to help you earn as much as possible!